Mists of revenge
by ntrophi
Summary: Getting a little more violent now... An old enemy is back, and longing for revenge. But he's more powerful than Tenchi and the others imagined... R+R please
1. Just a typical morning...

Disclaimer:  
I don't own them. Don't sue me. Thankyouverymuch.  
This is only part one. If I get some good feedback, then I'll continue. I can only tell you, that this isn't going to turn out like every other villan fic out there.  
Thanks for reading... And I know the title sucks... But titles are not my thing...  
  
  
I can feel the fire ripping through me - the sheer agony as the Souja explodes around me. How can this be? I had planned this all so carefully. The seven gems had been in my grasp and Tsunami... The answer was there. The Super Unified Theory. And now, it has all been taken from me. My ship, my purpose. Even my very body. How can I have been beaten? By some Jurian half-breed?  
I will not settle for this. The answers had almost been in my hands, but they were snatched away by the boy. I will not allow him and his friends to get away with this. They may have destroyed my ship, but they have underestimated me once more. I am no mere being like them. I do not just inhabit a body like they do - those puny mortals. I exist on other planes - on levels of pure energy.  
No... They were not able to destroy me totally. My shadows and my body may have been wiped from existence, but my spirit has not. And now that they believe that I am gone, I shall plan my revenge.  
Enjoy your days of peace... For they shall not last long...  
  
Five years after the Souja was destroyed...  
  
'C'mon Tenchi,' Ryoko yelled, phasing through a wall as she entered her friend's bedroom. She was greeted by a bizarre sight. Tenchi was still in bed.  
'You're not up! It's 11am and you're not up?!' Tenchi turned away from her, muttering something about having no privacy anymore. Ryoko ignored the complaint, instead rubbing her chin. She had to get him up. If he didn't do his chores, then someone would try to make her do something! She frowned.  
'Well... If you won't get up by yourself,' she said, pointing a glowing finger at his turned back.  
  
Two seconds later, Ryoko phased out of the room, laughing wildly. Tenchi rushed out of the room, fanning his smoking backside. The space-pirate had fired a low level fireball at him - causing him to leap out of bed faster than he would have if a meteor was about to hit him.  
'You just wait Ryoko!' he yelled, shaking a fist at the now disappeared demon.  
'Finally awake eh?' a voice said smugly. Tenchi turned to see little Washu smiling up at him.  
'Up in a hurry though... Not quite dressed yet...' she said, obviously suppressing a giggle. Tenchi quickly turned a bright shade of pink. In his rush to get hold of Ryoko, he had forgotten that he was wearing nothing except his underpants. He smiled nervously, a sweatdrop forming on his left temple.  
'Uhh...' he mumbled before running back into his room - the sound of Washu's laughter ringing in his ears.  
  
Ten minutes later, a fully dressed Tenchi walked into the kitchen of the house to find Sasami and Ry-oh-oki.  
'Morning Sasami,' he said, patting the young girl on the head.  
'You're awake!' Sasami said, turning to engulf him in a bearhug. 'We were getting worried, weren't we Ry-oh-oki?' The cabbit on the table nodded.  
'Meow,' None of them seemed to notice that Tenchi was turning blue under the hug.  
'Thanks... Sa... sa... mi...' he muttered, trying to push her away. He finally succeeded, and took a long deep breath in before continuing.  
'I've just been really... tired lately,' he said, yawning loudly as if to add extra effect. Sasami watched him quietly. There had been something wrong with him lately, but she didn't like to comment about it.  
'You should make Ryoko and Mihoshi do some of the chores,' she said sullenly as he sat down at the table. Tenchi rubbed the back of his head and grinned.  
'I know, but with Mihoshi I get the feeling that I'd get things done quicker myself. As for Ryoko... Well, she'd start doing something and get bored with it halfway through. Where would we be if all the chores only got half done?' Sasami nodded.  
'I see what you mean. I saved you some breakfast,' Tenchi grinned a little more.  
'Thanks,' he said - grinning greedily at the bowl of rice placed before him - before wolfing the meal down.  
  
Later that morning, Tenchi, Sasami, Ry-oh-oki and Ryoko were picking carrots from the nearby fields. Actually, only Tenchi and Sasami were picking them. Ry-oh-oki was eating what she had picked. Ryoko had started to pick them like she had no other purpose in life, but had got bored after about two minutes. She was lay on the grass, staring up at the sky. She was bored. She had only come out here with Tenchi so she could spend some time alone with him, but then Sasami had insisted on coming as well. Ryoko rolled her eyes.  
*Last thing I need is for short-stuff to be competition as well...* she thought.  
They worked in silence for a few minutes, before a thought struck Ryoko. Perhaps she could get rid of Sasami without having to resort to fireballing her. She rolled over onto her chest and frowned.  
'It's weird...' Tenchi stood up straight, wiping sweat from his brow and frowning.  
'What is?' he asked.  
'It's been five years...' Ryoko replied, purposefully making her voice sound strangely far-off and other-worldly.  
'Since what?' Sasami put in, whilst trying to snatch a carrot from Ry-oh-oki. The cabbit was putting up a fight. Small she might be, but weak she was not. Ryoko ignored the power struggle going on and sighed slightly.  
'Since...'  
'Wait, I know what you mean,' Tenchi said, throwing his small pile of carrots into a basket. Ryoko smiled ever so slightly. Trust Tenchi to notice. In fact, she was relying on him to notice.  
'Kagato...' he said, looking up at the sky. 'I didn't realise it was so long ago,' Ryoko nodded, taking a sideways look at Sasami. The girl had stopped fighting with Ry-oh-oki and was sat on the floor, with her robes pulled closely around her.  
'I know... Seems like only yesterday doesn't it?' Sasami shivered.  
'Please don't talk about it,' she said quietly. Ryoko's smile grew wider. She knew that the girl always had a weak spot about bad guys. Now time to exploit it further so she could be alone with Tenchi.  
'Why not?' she said, sidling up to sit next to Sasami. The Jurian princess shivered again. Could she tell them? About her dreams? About the sheer feeling of dread that overcame her everytime she was alone? She sighed quietly. No, she wouldn't tell them. She couldn't. Not just yet.  
'I just... Don't like to talk about him!' she said, picking up her basket of carrots and quickly heading off towards the house. Ry-oh-oki frowned after her for a moment, before picking up a carrot in her teeth and following.  
  
Tenchi watched her go and frowned.  
'Hey Sasami? What's wrong?' he yelled after her. The girl ignored him, instead walking a little faster to get back to the house. Ryoko smirked. Bingo. Sasami had taken the bait, turned tail and run. But, better to play along than appear suspicious, so she raised an eyebrow slightly.  
'What's with her?' she asked, turning to lie on her back. Tenchi shrugged - watching the figure of Sasami get smaller as she got further away.  
'I'm not sure... Better ask Ayeka if she knows anything when we get back,' Ryoko rolled her eyes again and scowled.  
*Ayeka this... Ayeka that... What does he see in that stuck up snob anyway?* she thought, idly pulling blades of grass out of the ground.  
*But hey... Alone at last...* she thought, an evil grin crossing her face.  
'Hey Tenchi... Need some help?' she asked, standing up - an expectant look on her face. Tenchi shook his head.  
'Not really. I'm all done here,' Ryoko's face fell into a scowl.  
*Why do I bother?* she thought.  
  
Sasami sighed as she walked slowly along the beaten track that led back to the house. She honestly did want to tell someone about her dreams, but everytime the opportunity came up, her courage always left her.  
The latest dreams had been awful. They had started a month or so ago, and had just intensified up to the point where Sasami was afraid to close her eyes. She didn't want to see his face - grinning evilly as he took Tenchi away from her again. She didn't want to hear his laughter as he killed Ryoko and Ayeka. But most of all, she didn't want to believe that he was still out there. But deep down in her heart, she knew that what she saw was true.  
  
As she walked along in her fearful daydream, Sasami didn't notice the almost ethereal mist that was trailing her. Had she noticed it, then it would have struck her as odd. On such a hot and dry day, the sheer heat should have dried up any mist. But this thin trail continued to follow her - like a cat following a mouse's scent.  
Sasami paused, feeling the heavy weight of dread rest upon her heart again. She only had this feeling when she had the dreams. She turned around suddenly, but the mist had quickly vanished before she could see it.  
Sasami shivered. Something was not right. A cold chill washed down her spine, causing her to shiver even more. It was almost as if he was stood behind her. But how could he be? He couldn't have survived.  
'You're dead,' she whispered - pulling her robes closer to her, trying to shut out the sudden cold that had surrounded her.  
'You have to be,' She swallowed slowly, turned and started to walk that little bit faster back to the house.  
  
The mist reappeared almost as soon as Sasami had turned away from it. It didn't follow her as she almost ran back towards the house, but instead stayed where it was - almost watching her. It seemed to concentrate - growing into a larger body of mist, and then it started to expand upwards and outwards, into a figure of some sort.  
If Sasami had glanced back behind her - if she had ignored the cold chill running down her spine - then she would have seen the ghostly figure of Kagato watching her and smiling ever so slightly. 


	2. Just a typical day...

(Author's note: This one's kinda boring... It's gonna get way more action-packed in the next chapter... Try and keep up though? This one's just for setting some of my plot in motion for later...)  
  
  
The day continued as a normal day in the Masaki household would. Mihoshi was too lost in her daytime TV to even remember what chores she had to do. The GP detective had even dared to try and make Ryoko sit through an entire hour's worth of "Pretty Police Women". Luckily for the space pirate, Mihoshi fell asleep halfway through, so she was able to creep away unnoticed.  
Ry-oh-oki and Sasami remained in the kitchen for most of the day, only venturing out occasionally to see if anyone was missing them. The young girl had no real desire to run into Tenchi or Ryoko again - for fear that they might pry into the reasons behind her sudden escape from the fields. She was lucky for once. Tenchi spent most of the day outside, finishing his chores alone of training with his grandfather. Ryoko - after escaping from Mihoshi with her sanity barely intact - had decided to spend the day with Washu in the sub-space lab. Ayeka was the only one to lend Sasami a hand, and even she failed to notice the metaphorical cloud hanging over her younger sister's head.  
  
Dinnertime arrived, with all it's usual chaos. Mihoshi managed to spill everything she even looked at. Ryoko and Ayeka spent the majority of the mealtime arguing over who was going to sit next to Tenchi. The boy sat next to Sasami, ignoring her look of unease as he ate his meal.  
Sasami was quiet and subdued. She ate quickly, and left the table unnoticed. It was a good thing too. Moments later, Ryoko rugby-tackled Ayeka to the floor.  
'Who are you calling demon-breath, fish-face?' she yelled. Sasami sighed. Just another typical mealtime.  
She walked into the kitchen - glad that Ryoko and Ayeka's fighting had distracted Tenchi's attention away from her. She didn't want him to ask about what had happened that morning. She didn't want...  
'Hey Sasami,' Tenchi's voice echoed suddenly through the empty kitchen, scaring Sasami half to death and causing her to drop her bowl onto the floor, where it cracked and broke.  
'Here... Let me get that,' Tenchi said, rubbing the back of his head with one hand . Before Sasami could even take a breath in, he was knelt down on the floor, gently picking up the broken pieces of pottery.  
'Thank you...' she murmured, hoping that he would leave soon.  
'I uh... noticed you slip away,' Tenchi started as he picked up the last piece. Sasami blushed and stared down at the floor. Trust Tenchi to notice her when she least wanted him to.  
'Yes...' was all she could say in reply. Tenchi stood, again ignoring her obvious unease, and smiled warmly at her. Sasami looked up for a moment - up at that smile. Tenchi's smile always made her feel better, but today it wasn't working. Instead, his happy expression seemed to open the void in her soul up even wider - deepening the sense of dread she had been feeling for so long.  
'You've been avoiding me all day as well,' Tenchi continued, moving to place the pieces of broken bowl onto the counter beside him. 'Since you left the field...' Sasami blushed a little more. He noticed more than she gave him credit for.  
'Did I do... something wrong?' Tenchi finished. He had always had a good relationship with Sasami, but recently she had become more distant. It was almost getting to the point where he was fearful for her. The young girl kept her head down and sighed slightly.  
'It's not you... It's just... just...' Tenchi let out a little sigh and moved to give Sasami a hug.  
'If you don't wanna tell me, then fine. I just thought we were friends...' The last part of his sentence was said sullenly on purpose. Sasami hated to hurt people's feelings, and Tenchi felt that he had a better chance of getting her to tell him what was wrong if he sounded upset. Sasami shook her head and stepped away from him and the hug.  
'We are... I just... I can't tell you. I can't tell anyone...' Tenchi frowned slightly.  
'Why?' he asked. Sasami stayed silent.  
*It's because I'm afraid...* she thought. *I'm afriad that what I dream is real... And if I tell you, then it'd be like accepting it. I don't want to accept it...*  
  
Tenchi watched his friend struggle with her thoughts and smiled slightly. She might not be willing to tell him, but she would tell someone. He was sure of that.  
'It doesn't matter,' he said softly. 'Why not try talking to Ayeka... I'm sure she'll understand better than I could,' And with that, Tenchi squeezed Sasami's shoulder and left the room - leaving the girl alone with her fear and dread once more.  
  
Washu paused and frowned - looking up from her lap-top for a moment. That cold shiver had been working it's way down her spine again, but it always disappeared quickly, so she decided to ignore it for now. She shrugged slightly and stood up.  
'That's enough work for now,' she said, putting her keyboard away and stretching her small body out. It was a few hours after dinner had finished. Washu had come to her lab - alone for a change. Ryoko was always following her around these days. Not that the scientist minded.  
'Nice to have some help around here,' she said, grinning. Not that Ryoko was much help. She tended to start a task madly and then get bored with it after about two minutes. Washu shook her head and grinned, sitting back down.  
'That girl of mine...'  
She took a moment to look around her sub-space lab. It fitted quite nicely here - under Tenchi's stairs. Many new projects were going on at once in the large space, but there was one thing that held her attention longer than anything else.  
The spaceship egg.  
Washu stood and walked over to the egg, smiling softly. No-one knew she had this egg. Well, Ryoko knew.  
'She's always sneaking around in here when I least expect it,' Washu said with a slight smile. She stood over the egg, watching the light bounce off it's surface.  
'Hello Sou-oh-oki...' she whispered, stroking one hand over the egg's smooth surface.  
'Almost time for you to hatch little one,' Yes, this was the offspring of the Souja. Just like Ryoko's ship, the Souja was able to reproduce just before it died. Washu had found this egg just before they had left the Souja and come back down to Earth, but she had hidden it. Just in case someone asked about it.  
'You're my ship,' she said softly, her voice trailing off slightly at the end. So that was not entirely true. Sou-oh-oki was not just her ship, but Kagato's ship as well.  
'But he's not around, is he?' she said to the egg - smirking widely.  
'Nope. He's just a pile of dust floating around in the upper atmosphere!' Washu said, snickering loudly before turning away from the egg. Her smile faded as her gaze fell on the jar.  
Again, what she said was not entirely the truth. Not all of the evil genius was floating around in outer space. Washu had taken a few specks - a few dots of the final remains of her former assistant - purely for research purposes.  
'I always wanted to know how he got so strong...' she murmured, keeping her distance from the jar. It always had this dark aura around it - some kind of silent menace. It was the only jar in the lab that gave Washu the creeps.  
'Next time I clean up, you're going out with the rest of the trash!' she said, waggling an accusing finger at the jar.  
'But... not right now,' she finished, yawning slightly. It was very late now - almost time for her to leave the lab and go to bed.  
'But I just have enough time to finish some calculations before I do,' she said, producing her lap-top once more. She took a final look around the otherwise empty lab and shuddered before starting to tap on the keypad. 


	3. Not such a typical evening...

(Author note: Anything written in first person is Kagato. Anything in third person is anyone else... Just thought I'd mention. Otherwise it might get confusing!!)  
  
All is quiet as I stand there, watching her sleep. Young Ryoko. She has grown so weak since leaving me that I almost pity her. I cannot bear to see her like this. She was created to be so powerful, and look what she has been reduced to now. Trying to win the affections of a Jurian. No - worse than that. Not even a pure Jurian.  
They will all pay. For destroying me and for turning my creation into such a weakling. However, first I must return to the material plane. Without a conduit for my energy to flow through, I will never have any kind of power to fight them. No. They are safe for now. I cannot harm them.  
But I still have Ryoko.  
  
Sasmi slept restlessly, tossing and turning as her mind was invaded by the horrific images of her dreams once more. Her young face was contorted into a silent scream, her cries muffled by the covers that were drawn over her face. The nightmares were upon her again, and as always, there was no escape for her.  
Today, she found herself stood just outside the house - the sky unnaturally foreboding, dark and thick with clouds. As the lightening crashed around her, Sasami turned and saw Ryoko. At first the young girl was pleased to see the space pirate, but then she saw the blank glare on Ryoko's face. Her eyes were glazed and her face totally expressionless. Ryoko started to walk towards her, her blood-coated hands holding her energy beam. Behind her, Sasami could see a fallen Ayeka - her lifeless eyes no longer able to see the horrific scene that unfolded before her.  
Sasami took a horrified step backwards, only to walk into someone. She turned slowly, dreading the face that she knew would be staring back at her. Her terrified eyes met the red eyes of an enemy. Sasami tried to scream, but the wind whipped around her, stealing her words from her mouth and leaving her utterly defenceless.  
The tall villan stared down at her, his eyes glinting evilly and his lips curled into a satisfied smirk. He then moved his gaze, over to his left hand. Sasami followed his eyes with her own, and let out a loud gasp as she saw what he was looking at.  
In his left hand, he was holding the hilt of the Master Key...  
  
Sasami sat bolt upright - escaping the suffocating hold that her covers had on her. She opened her eyes and allowed her anguished scream to echo through the quiet room. Moments later, a sleepy and worried Ayeka turned on the light and crouched down next to her shivering sister.  
'Sasami?' she asked, stroking Sasami's dishevelled hair out of her face. 'What's wrong?' Sasami paused, looking up into Ayeka's bright eyes. The memory of her sister lay on the floor - her eyes so dull and lifeless - hit her again, and she let out a loud sob before collapsing into Ayeka's confused arms.  
  
I hear the scream from the girl and scowl. That girl Sasami is a danger to me, yet I cannot harm her. She is my best link to Tsunami. If I am to find the answers and truly take my revenge, then I shall need her until the very last moments. But until then, I will wait. My revenge and the theory will have to be dealt with later. For now, I must deal with the problem of getting a new body.  
I look down at Ryoko, watching her sleep peacefully.  
'Ryoko...' Come my daughter. Do not ignore the words of your father.  
'Wake up Ryoko...' Excellent. Professor Washu did not install any kind of defence against my mind control in Ryoko. Perhaps the good Professor assumed that I was gone forever.  
Obviously, her assumption was wrong.  
'To the lab Ryoko,' If I am to find anything to help me, then I will find it there. However much I despise the Professor, only she can provide me with a new body. Ryoko stands and starts to walk towards the door of her room. Yes. This is how things should be. Ryoko was always meant to follow orders, not make decisions of her own. It is much better this way. She will follow my commands and aide me in my capture of Tsunami and the rest of the gems. However, my grip is not as strong when I am in this phase. I must stay close to her in order to maintain my grip.  
I follow her out of the room, knowing that my concentration makes me vaguely visible. But what does that matter? Who would be foolish enough to still be awake at this time?  
  
Washu yawned again, and wiped a hand over her face. She had become absorbed in her work again, and had not noticed the time fly by so quickly. Looking at her watch, she raised an eyebrow.  
'Wow... I should really pay attention next time huh?' She chuckled loudly and stood up, folding away her computer for the last time that night.  
'Now I'm going to bed,' she said decisively, stretching out.  
She started to head to the door, but paused when she heard soft footsteps outside. She frowned. No-one else was usually awake at this time of night. In fact, she had never known anyone - other than Ryoko and herself - to stay up quite so late.  
She stood by the door, her eyes narrowing as she thought. Perhaps it was Ryoko. Maybe the girl couldn't sleep and had come down - knowing that Washu rarely went to bed any earlier than this time.  
  
The door opened, at the same time as a loud thunderbolt crashed down from the heavens. Washu breathed a sigh of relief. It was Ryoko.  
'What are you doing down here so late?' Washu chided, moving to pat Ryoko gently on the arm. The pirate turned towards her, grabbing her hand and throwing her away into a nearby wall. Washu was back on her feet quickly, and looked back to her daughter.  
'Ryoko... What are you...?' Her question trailed off as her eyes met those of her daughter's. They were glazed, expressionless. And they were glowing a bright red colour. Washu gasped. It couldn't be. There was no way that he could have come back.  
The lightening crashed down again outside, illuminating the room. Washu's gasp grew a lot louder as she saw what - or rather who - was stood behind Ryoko.  
'Kagato...?' she said. The ghostly image stood behind Ryoko turned towards the small Professor, and smiled.  
  
Ah. The professor. I was not expecting to run into her just yet. But no matter. She was going to meet her fate soon. Why not now?  
'So nice to see you again Professor,' I say, ensuring that Ryoko remains under my control for now. The look on the Professor's face is priceless. Why it seems as if she's seen a ghost. She remains silent. How dare she? Not even a word of apology? Recognition?  
Will she not understand that now is the moment that she will die?  
  
(Author note: Muah hah hah! Alright, so I actually like Washu, but she got in Kagato's way first... Tune in next chapter to see what happens to the intrepid pink-haired one!!) 


End file.
